You are about to celebrate your 15th anniversary working at ARTEMIS as their mechanical engineer. The last two years have been a nightmare, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting every sector in the country, including your own. Navigating through the turn to technology as a means of communication, collaboration and the completion of tasks has been challenging. And maybe you didn’t do so well with these changes. You didn’t think these changes would be permanent, so you didn’t make the effort to get fully embraced in these changes. And with the world slowly picking itself up, you thought the worst is behind you.

How wrong you were!

As you walk into the office of the managing director of ARTEMIS, instead of hoping for that promotion you have been waiting for since you began in the company, you experience a sinking feeling as you see the face greeting you. Not the facial expression of someone about to congratulate you. More like that of the messenger of bad news.

He explains, in short, you are on the verge of being let off. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, you and your engineering colleagues were in great demand due to the shortage of skills across the country. Now, with the change in landscape and the effects of the pandemic on the economy and resources, companies are being forced to shed their workers, even professionals such as yourself. Since you struggled with the technological changes that have been implemented in the company over the past two years, you are unfortunately no longer a valuable talent to the company. “I’m so sorry for this, but with the digital age being the present and future, and with limited funds in our bank, we cannot afford to keep employees who cannot keep up. We need to hire employees that will take us into the future.”

You are stunned. If you knew this was on the horizon, you could have done something about this. And now it’s too late…or is it?

“What if I take a digital upskilling course? If I can gain the skills, I need to take this company into the tech age, won’t that be more cost-effective for you than having to waste your time hiring and training new employees?”

The managing director thinks a moment. After a long silence in the room, he finally nods in agreement.

“Let’s make a deal. I will give you two months to show me you can gain the practical skills you need in digital literacy and competency specific to your mechanical engineering role. If you can prove to me that you can keep up with the tech changes of today, then I will be more than happy to ask you to stay.”

Do you agree to this proposal?

The question should be: do you have a choice?

You smile and nod in agreement.

But inside, you are not smiling. You are shaking in fear: can I do it?

Can I save my job?

Where do I even begin?